DRINKING WATER
Using Biological Competition To Suppress Algae Growth
Effective algae control shifts the focus from removal to nutrient management. By leveraging bioaugmentation to outcompete algae for nitrogen and phosphorus, facilities can stabilize pH levels and dissolved oxygen, ensuring long-term pond clarity and consistent wastewater treatment performance.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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The Importance Of pH Measurement During Industrial Treatment
Nearly every industry requires water and wastewater treatment to some degree. From food and beverage to pulp and paper operations, influent and effluent must meet certain conditions to adhere to regulatory and/or performance requirements, and water used during the process must conform as well.
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![InventoryReplacement]( "Preparing For Lead-Service-Line Inventory And Replacement Requirements")
Preparing For Lead-Service-Line Inventory And Replacement RequirementsWith all the new facets of the revised Lead and Copper Rule revisions (LCRR) — increased sampling requirements, lead service line (LSL) inventory and replacement, new communications requirements, and school/childcare-facility monitoring — any water utility that has not yet started making preparations is at risk of non-compliance now that the new rule has become law. Here are some factors to consider when reviewing LCRR requirements and conducting LSL inventories and replacements.
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A New Way To Desalinate — Government Tested, Real-World Approved
Developed by the Department of Defense, capacitive deionization (CDI) removes salt from water, while conventional methods remove water from salt. By Patrick Curran, CEO and founder, Atlantis Technologies
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![aquaknight-update]( "Introducing AquaKnight™: Revolutionizing Water Filtration For A Cleaner And Safer Tomorrow")
Introducing AquaKnight™: Revolutionizing Water Filtration For A Cleaner And Safer TomorrowIn a world where access to clean and safe water is increasingly vital, AquaKnight emerges as the steadfast guardian of clean drinking water in the ongoing battle against PFAS.
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![pleasanton-CA]( "Aqueous Vets® Quick Response Keeps Critical Stoneridge Well In Service In Northern California")
Aqueous Vets® Quick Response Keeps Critical Stoneridge Well In Service In Northern CaliforniaZone 7 Water Agency is a water wholesaler in Northern California that serves more than a quarter million residents. Blending water from both surface and groundwater sources has enabled Zone 7 to address many emerging contaminant concerns over the past several years.
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![getty-2093684567-water-flow]( "Unlocking The Flow: The Transformative Value Of Meter Data Management For Water Utilities")
Unlocking The Flow: The Transformative Value Of Meter Data Management For Water UtilitiesMDM systems transform raw meter data into actionable intelligence, enhancing operational efficiency, driving proactive leak detection, improving billing accuracy, and supporting vital water conservation initiatives.
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KETOS Provides Real-Time Lab Accurate Results For Effluent Water
A leading provider of water and wastewater treatment solution for industrial, municipal, and recreational customers faced a number of issues with the safe treatment and disposal of coal ash and residual ash in ponds. Frequent testing at multiple locations was needed to ensure water safety and compliance.
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South Mesa Water Co. Improves Customer Service, Conservation And Operational Efficiency With Hot Rod™ From Mueller Systems
Operational efficiency and conservation are increasing in focus among water utilities across the United States, however, they are especially important to Calimesa, Calif.-based South Mesa Water Company.
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Sheboygan Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility Prevents Energy Waste With Eaton's Motor Insight
To ensure real-time monitoring of pump motor status at its five lift pumping stations, Sheboygan Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, Sheboygan, WI, replaced its bi-metallic overload relays with Eaton’s Motor Insight™ overload and monitoring relays.
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![Master-Meter-Top-10-Customer-Touchpoints-v0506B-1]( "Top 10 Customer Touchpoints")
Top 10 Customer TouchpointsCities must gain the buy-in and support from the public and elected officials to secure necessary funding for smart water tech. Optimizing the initial costs of deploying smart water tech are going to vary, mainly depending on the size of the utility. Buy-in and support will only occur when utilities effectively make people understand, what’s in it for the customer. Water utilities need to communicate the value of AMI through the lens of what matters most to the end user—your customer, the consumer of your product, the ratepayer.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Improved Efficiencies In TOC Wastewater Analysis For Standard Method 5310B And EPA Method 41510/16/2014Total organic carbon (TOC) measurement is of vital importance to the operation of water treatment due to organic compounds comprising a large group of water pollutants. TOC has been around for many years, and although it is a relatively simple analysis in theory, operational efficiency is paramount.
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Pile Cloth Media Filtration Removes 97% Of Microplastics From Wastewater12/6/2023
Learn about filtering microplastics from industrial wastewater prior to discharge, and how this is one way to effectively reduce the volume of this waste material from entering our surface water.
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The Basics: ORP and Free Chlorine Monitoring5/13/2014
Oxidation Reduction Potential or Redox is the activity or strength of oxidizers and reducers in relation to their concentration. Oxidizers accept electrons, reducers lose electrons. Examples of oxidizers are: chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, bromine, ozone, and chlorine dioxide. Examples of reducers are sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfate and hydrogen sulfide. Like acidity and alkalinity, the increase of one is at the expense of the other.
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Free Chlorine Measurement In Drinking Water Treatment12/21/2005
Before water can be used as a safe and reliable source for drinking water, it must be properly treated. Since water is a universal solvent, it comes in contact with several different pathogens, some of which are potentially lethal, and inactivation is accomplished through chemical disinfection and mechanical filtration treatment. This treatment consists of coarse filtration to remove large objects and pre-treatment which includes disinfection using chlorine or ozone
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Determination Of EN15662:2008 - Determination Of Pesticide Residue In Food Of Plant Origin, By An Automated QuEChERS Solution9/24/2014
Pesticide residue laboratories are required to undertake analyses of an ever increasing number of samples. The analyses typically involve use of multi-residue methods (both GC-MS and LC-MS) to test for over 500 pesticide residues.
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LC-MS Analysis Of 33 PFAS Compounds In 5 Minutes11/4/2021
In response to environmental testing demands for faster LC-MS analyses, the new Ascentis® Express PFAS HPLC and delay columns allow the highly efficient separation of 33 PFAS compounds in 5 minutes with reduced background contamination.
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Innovative Solutions To Drinking Water Decontamination In Small And Medium Treatment Plants9/21/2017
Air stripping technology effectively removes VOCs, THMs, and CO2 for improved adherence to water quality regulations.
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Protecting Pumps From Dead Head Conditions4/6/2017
The C445 motor management relay offers the most configurable protection options in the industry, with features specifically designed to protect critical pumps from costly damages due to dead-head and other underloaded or starved pump conditions.
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Application Bulletin: Reverse Osmosis3/19/2008
Osmosis is the phenomenon of lower dissolved solids in water passing through a semi-permeable membrane into higher dissolved solids water until a near equilibrium is reached
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Application Note: Water Flows From The Golden Hills Of California1/20/2010Each morning John Johnson drives the few miles from his smalltown home in northern California to the Center at Pardee Reservoir. Nestled among the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the reservoir is a long 100 miles away from San Francisco Bay. By YSI
DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS
U.S. Pipe’s TR-XTREME® pipe is engineered for seismic resilience, providing the first domestic ductile iron pipeline capable of expansion, contraction, and deflection within a single restrained bell joint.
High-Resolution LCD 4-20 scaled/unscaled registers feature an electronic LCD register with scaled/unscaled output and an analog 4-20 mA DC output through a dual output wire design. They are designed for use with Recordall® Disc Series, Turbo Series, Compound Series, Combo Series and Fire Service meters and connect to SCADA and other external systems.
The Series 70CV2000 Chloromatic™ control valve is wall mounted and responds to control signals from a water flow transmitter and/or a chlorine residual analyzer controller. Valve characteristics are provided to directly accept a pacing signal proportional to flow.
ULTRAPEN™ PT4 is Myron L Company’s ground-breaking new pocket tester for measuring free chlorine disinfecting power, free chlorine equivalent (FCE), and temperature. It is waterproof and designed for accuracy and simplicity for use in diverse water quality applications.
There are over 4,500 compounds currently classified as PFAS compounds. BioLargo's PFAS treatment is customized to the water to reduce energy, breakthrough, waste products, and operation and maintenance costs.
The Navigator 500 Hydrazine analyzer provides a continuous measurement of the level of hydrazine in boiler feedwater, enabling the chemical dose to be controlled automatically.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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![tractor_sludge_Getty-2155530305]( "Why Too Much Phosphorus In America's Farmland Is Polluting The Country's Water")
When people think about agricultural pollution, they often picture what is easy to see: fertilizer spreaders crossing fields or muddy runoff after a heavy storm. However, a much more significant threat is quietly and invisibly building in the ground. -
![EnvironmentPeople_004]( "Water In 2026: The Nexus Of Policy, Technology, And Resilience")
As water systems become more circular and complex, understanding and managing the subsurface — the hidden half of the water cycle — is becoming a critical enabler of resilience. This article explores the key trends shaping this new reality, from tackling “forever chemicals” to the water strategies redefining heavy industry. -
![Cutting Red Tape-GettyImages-502421630]( "How The NEPA Rollback Will Impact Water And Wastewater Industries")
The White House has finalized plans to roll back rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), narrowing its focus and limiting what the current administration claims are needless delays for federal approval of water, energy, and other infrastructure plans. For water and wastewater utilities, the changes could speed up permitting for critical projects, although experts warn the tradeoffs could do more harm than good. -
![Ultraviolet lamps for water disinfection-GettyImages-1271779123]( "Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation Facility")
Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation FacilityPortland's industry-leading facility reaches 100 reactor validations in 23 years. -
![Water analysis, purification, filtration, treatment, quality monitoring, contamination detection-GettyImages-2234293664]( "Why Haven't Field Tests For Lead In Water Gone Mainstream?")
Given the maturation of sensor technology, the scientific and operational hurdles to portable lead analysis are somewhat surprising — but surmountable. -
![peace-athabasca-delta-flood-mapping-265153]( "What Is Bathymetric Modeling? And How Can It Protect Ecosystems While Saving Resources?")
Bathymetric modeling maps underwater terrain. It also helps guide planning, prevent hazards, and build climate-resilient infrastructure.
DRINKING WATER VIDEOS
The recoating of a potable water tank in Lancaster, PA, included an already tight timeframe and several challenges that cause delays.
More than 100 beers were on tap during the Xylem beer tasting event in New Orleans. While each beer had it’s own flavor, every beer was brewed with one special ingredient… reuse water. Watch the video to learn more.
ABOUT DRINKING WATER
In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:
- Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
- Drinking water treatment of source water
- Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers
Drinking Water Sources
Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater.
Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.
Drinking Water Treatment
Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.
There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.
The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.
The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.
During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.
Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.
Drinking Water Distribution
Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.
A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.
Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.